SandRider
SandRider is the second book in the TodHunter Moon series, released on October 13th, 2015. It is set two months after the events of PathFinder, and continues to follow the adventures of Alice "TodHunter" Moon the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice. Blurb In PathFinder, readers journeyed with Alice TodHunter Moon, a young PathFinder who found her way to the Castle seven years after the events of the original Septimus Heap series. Now it’s two months later and Alice is settled into her new life in the Castle. Being Apprentice to ExtraOrdinary Wizard Septimus Heap is tricky—there’s loads of new Magyk to learn—but at least she’s mastered the Unseen charm. She’s lucky she has, too—that Unseen will come in handy when she sets out with friends Oskar and Ferdie on a perilous journey to retrieve the Egg of the Orm from the Desert of the Singing Sands. If they don’t reach the Egg before it hatches, the new baby Orm could imprint on the evil sorcerer Oraton-Marr, giving him unlimited Magyk to do with what he wishes…. Bursting with humorous and poignant moments, SandRider celebrates the satisfaction of taking charge of one’s path in life—unexpected adventures and all. Perfect for anyone who can’t get enough of the world of Septimus Heap![https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24625613 SandRider - Goodreads] Plot Part I (Chapters 1 - 2) Oraton-Marr aboard the ship Tristan, being cased by Spit Fyre. Marr is carrying the Egg of the Orm with, following the events of PathFinder, and soon docks at a small port on the edge of a vast desert. Spit Fyre lands on the roof of the house of the Harbor Master, and waits for a change to take the Egg. After several days, Oraton-Marr leaves with the Orm Egg and Subhan-Subhan (also called Egg Boy), and travels into the desert. There, he finds an Apothecary (Karamander Draa), her apprentice (Mysor), and her two daughters. Oraton-Marr kidnaps the Apothecary's younger girl, Bubba, who is still a baby, and threatens to kill her if either the Egg does not hatch, Spit Fyre takes the Orm Egg away, or Imprints on someone that is not him. Oraton-Marr leaves Subhan-Subhan behind to hatch the Orm Egg. Subhan-Subhan throws the Orm Egg in a fire, follows by both the Egg Boy and Marr strarting their respective Egg Timers, beginning the long wait for the Orm Egg to hatch. Part II (Chapters 3 - 10) Spit Fyre watches over Subhan-Subhan, the Orm Egg, the Apothecary, her apprentice, and her elder daughter, Kaznim Na-Draa. Spit-Fyre has been there for several weeks since the end of Part I, having entered a trance-like state to conserve energy. Kaznim, who sneaks out of her and her mother's tent in the wee hours of the morning. Her goal is to find her pet tortoise, Ptolemy, who she believes was stolen by Subhan-Subhan. She uses an UnSeen charme to sneak into Subhan-Subhan's tent, where the Orm Egg is also located. Kaznim is also found out after she steps on something underneath a rug, however she is safe to due her invisibility. Fearing she had step on her tortoise, Kaznim folds back the rug to find a golden box, but no tortoise. She takes the box, believing it to be a prized possession of Subhan-Subhan in retaliation for taking her tortoise. She then leaves the tent, and their camp-grounds, and heads towards the Pit of the Singing Sands to find her pet. After a small walk, Kaznim finds Ptolemy in the dangerous parts of the Pit of the Singing Sands. After a small scuffle, Kaznim and her pet are swallowed by the sands, and sink beneath them. Back at the camp, Karamander awakes to sound of a scream coming from the Singing Sands. She warns her daughter not be frightened, as they will be safe in their tent. However. when her daughter does not reply, she walks to her daughter's bed, and finds a note, telling her that she has left to find Ptolemy. Karamander goes to the Egg Tent and wakes her Apprentice. Together, they head out to the Pit of the Singing Sands to find Kaznim. The follow her footsteps, however when they reach the Pit, they find neither Kaznim nor Ptolemy. Subhan-Subhan, still in the Egg Tent, reveals that he threw Ptolemy in the Singing Sands. However, he become enraged when he cannot find the golden box, or his Egg Timer. Underneath the Singing Sands, Kaznim and Ptolemy cannot breathe. Kaznim is grabbed by two silhouetted figures, and is pulled through what looks like an arch. Once through the arch, Kaznim feels like she is falling deeper into the Singing Sands, but realizes that she is going forward very fast. Once she has slowed down, Kaznim walks out of a tunnel, into dappled green light. She finds her self in a forest, ringed by similar archs to the one she had just exited. She learns then that the two silhouettes who saved her are actually Marwick and Sam Heap. Sam is gravely injured, and the two reveal that they have been gone from The Castle for over twelve years, and have recently escaped from a prison. Sam and Marwick promise to take Kaznim home once they get Sam healed up at the Castle. Using the Ancient Ways, the trio travel to the Castle. However, when they reach the last Archway, they find it has been Magykal Sealed by Marcia Overstrand. Marwick works out a way to get around the Seal, however, with knowledge she has gleaned from her mother, Kaznim does not believe Sam can survive the extra leg of their journey. Part III (Chapters 11 - 15) Tod gives a speech during the early-morning Wizard Tower Moot, an event often called Scrambled Egg by the Apprentices of the Wizard Tower. Tod gives details about the hatching of the Orm Egg, to Septimus Heap, Beetle, Edd Heap, Erik Heap, a sleeping Jim Knee, and a few of the other wizards of the Wizard Tower. After the Moot has ended, Septimus sends Jim Knee and Tod (with Edd and Erik for support) to travel the Ancient Ways in search of the Orm Egg. Jim Knee, however, is affected by the cold air outside the Wizard Tower, and thus their mission is put on hold. Alice is sent to Marcia's Keep to warn her of Jim Knee's up-coming appearance. Meanwhile, at Marcia's Keep, Kaznim is outside of the Sealed Arch with Marwick and a dying Sam Heap. Tod finds them trapped behind the Sealed Arch, and runs back to get Septimus to UnSeal the Arch. Septimus does so in time, and sends Tod to get two people to help carry Sam back to the Wizard Tower. Smartly, Tod brings back Edd and Erik, and together, with Marwick's help, the three Heap brothers carry their dying sibling back to the Wizard Tower, Kaznim and Tod in tow. At the Wizard Tower, Sam is seen to by Dandra Draa, the aunt of Tod, who sends Tod to find Marcellus Pye, the only person in the Castle who can preform the surgery upon Sam that will save his life. Part IV (Chapters 16 - 19) Kaznim, who has been waiting outside of the Wizard Tower's Sick Bay, feels lonely since Tod left to find the other Heap brothers and Marcellus. She pulls out the golden box she stole from Subhan-Subhan, and opens it, finding the Egg Timer and twelve colored cards. The cards have diagrams on them that depict the Orm growing within it's eye until it hatches. Eventually, Tod returns and finds Kaznim asleep. Kaznim moves and pushed the box to the floor, knocking it opens. Tod uses her FlashLight to look at the cards, however she accidentally flashes the light into Kaznim's eye, and wakes the young girl. Kaznim is upset that Tod went through the box, but goes with the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice to her room so she can sleep in a proper bed. Tod sneaks the cards out of the box while Kaznim is asleep, and shows them to Septimus. The part ends with the Heap Brothers, Tod, and Dandra discussing the cards and realizing that they only have three days left until the Orm Egg is to hatch. Part V (Chapters 20 - 26) Kaznim feels betrayed by Tod stealing her cards, and uses an UnSeen charm to escape from the Wizard Tower.Tod tries to chase after her, but is held up by various forces, and she eventually losses track of the young girl. Tod does however meet up with her friend, Ferdie Sarn. Ferdie agrees to help Tod find Kaznim. Meanwhile, after escaping the Wizard Tower, Kaznim finds her way to the Manuscriptorium, where she hopes to use their Ancient Way to go back home. She plans to ask Oraton-Marr to attack the Castle, forgetting how he treated her baby sister and mother. Part VI (Chapters 27 - 34) Part VII (Chapters 25 - 41) Part VIII (Chapters 42 - 47) Septimus sends Jim Knee (in tiger form) with Jenna to The Forest to protect her from the Wendron Witch. Jenna is going to the Forest to tell Sarah and Silas Heap of Sam's condition and to meet with her spies. Meanwhile, at Septimus's request, Tod participates in the Apprentice Race. During the Race, Marissa Lane uses an OverRide on Tod's sled (The Wiz) and draws her into the Wendron's winter home. Marissa does this because she is a servant of Oraton-Marr. Ferdie and Oskar follow Tod, in an attempt to save her, but get covered in snow. When they reach the Wendron's winter home, the Witches believe they are Snow Sprites and plan to set them on fire and give their bones to Oraton-Marr as a bonus gift. However, before Ferdie and Oskar can be put to the fire, one of Jenna's spies go to Galen's house to warn Jenna of the children's impending doom. Jenna sends the spy and Jim Knee ahead as she knows that she will slow them down. Back with the witches, Tod manages to hit Morwenna Mould, which allows her and her friends to escape. At this time, Jim Knee arrives and protects the trio as they escape, and leads them back to Jenna, Galen, Sarah, and Silas. During that night, Tod uses a WitchFinder to make sure no witches try to attack Galen's tree-home. Marissa eventually passes by, but seems to ignore the house. Tod uses the WitchFinder to follow her, where eventually Oraton-Marr and Kaznim meet up with the Witch. When Oraton-Marr spots Tod, he tells Marissa to Grasp her, however just then wolverines attack their meeting place, and Tod escapes with Kaznim, who was being help prisoner. Tod and Kaznim return to Galen's home, where they plan to head to the Red City and Pits of the Singing Sands to find the Orm Egg. Part IX (Chapters 48 - 50) Back to the Castle, finds the ghost of Jillie Djinn waiting outside of Septimus's room in the Wizard Tower. She informs him that Beetle has broken his promise of not allowing anyone to use the Manuscriptorium's Hidden Arch. She is referencing Kaznim, who used the Arch to get back to her home, however Jillie forgets to mention her role in the events. Septimus, in a rage, storms into the Manuscriptorium and confronts Beetle, who has no clue what Septimus is talking about. The two go down to the Manuscriptorium's basement for privacy (though they're yelling so loud this does nothing). While downstairs, Romilly Badger askes Darius Wrenn (the person who gave Kaznim the information she needed to traverse the Ancient Ways) if there is anything he needs to confess to. He agrees, and Romilly leads him down to Septimus and Beetle. Upon learning of Jillie's and Darius's involvement in Kaznim's disappearance, along with Ephaniah Grebe's confirmation of Kaznim's use of the Ancient Way, Septimus and Beetle decide to use the Way to find Kaznim, Tod, and Ferdie and Oskar. Part X (Chapters 51 - 60) Part XI (Chapters 61 - 66) Part XII (Chapters 67 - 72) At the Tribe of Three and Kaznim as they enter the Red City. After a run in with the Red Queen, Tod is captured by Marissa. Ferdie, Oskar, and Kaznim go to their appointed meeting place, while Jim Knee Transforms in a spider to aid in Tod's escape. After meeting up, the group sends Jim Knee to the Castle with a message for Septimus. Then, the now group of four, called their sleds from the Apprentice Race, and set out across the desert to find the Orm Egg. Casting the rare SandRider charm upon their sleds, Tod and Kaznim, upon the Wiz, and Oskar and Ferdie, upon the Beetle, traverse the desert. Not long after they began their journey, the group came to a halt before a split in the road. Kaznim, worried about her little sister Bubba's survival, tells Tod and the others to go down the left path, which will take them away from the Orm Egg. After a run-in with a pride of Sand Lions, the group discover Kaznim's latest betrayal. Oskar figures out the correct way to the Orm Egg, and they quartet races to reach the Egg in time. Tod tricks Oraton-Marr into believe that she wants to be his Apprentice, so he allows her to be with him as the Orm Egg hatches. As the Orm Egg hatches, Oraton-Marr attempted to pull it out from the egg. The Orm believes a predator is attacking it, and detaches its own tail. Spit Fyre, who has been guarding the Egg since the beginning of the book, takes flight, and picks up the baby Orm. The Orm believes Spit Fyre is it's mother, and Imprints upon him. As the book closes, Darius stays behind with Kaznim and her family and becomes Karamander's Apprentice. Tod, Ferdie, Oskar, and the rest return to the Castle, with the Tribe of Three claiming the Castle will always be "theirs". Gallery SandRider UK Desert Cover.png SandRider UK Red Cover.png References